Long-running Daytime Drama ‘Doctors’ Cancelled By BBC After 23 Years
The BBC has announced that daytime medical drama ‘Doctors’ will end in 2024 after 23 years on British television screens.
Set in the fictional town of Letherbridge, ‘Doctors’ follows the staff of a busy West Midlands GP practice. The series tracks the turbulent lives and loves of the staff and patients, and all the humour and heartbreak that they see on a daily basis.
“We have taken the very difficult decision to bring daytime drama Doctors to an end after 23 years,” said the BBC in a statement. “With super inflation in drama production, the cost of the programme has increased significantly, and further investment is also now required to refurbish the site where the show is made, or to relocate it to another home. With a flat licence-fee, the BBC’s funding challenges mean we have to make tough choices in order to deliver greater value to audiences. We remain fully committed to the West Midlands and all of the funding for Doctors will be reinvested into new programming in the region.”
The show first launched in March 2000, and has become a staple of the daytime BBC schedule. However, it isn’t just going to vanish overnight. The final episode will screen in December 2024, and the BBC say they are “working closely with BBC Studios to give it the finale it deserves.”
The broadcaster also acknowledges the role ‘Doctors’ has taken in helping foster new UK stars, adding “We would like to thank all the Doctors cast and crew who have been involved in the show since 2000. We know the crucial role Doctors has played in nurturing talent, and we will work to develop new opportunities to support skills in scripted programming.”
It has become something of a rite of passage for British actors to have at least one episode of ‘Doctors’ on their CV. Eddie Redmayne, Richard Armitage, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Ellis, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Claire Foy, and Emilia Clarke are just some of the well-known faces who popped up on the show early in their careers. It has also served as a training ground for many writers and directors who have gone on to well-known dramas on both sides of the Atlantic.
‘Doctors’ will continue to air on BBC One until December 2024.
